Trucks threaten to go on 'holiday' amid daytime ban

ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- Twelve-thousand trucks have threatened to go on a "truck holiday" on Monday in protest of the daytime ban which will be implemented by the City of Manila on Feb. 24.

Officials of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board have called an emergency meeting on Saturday to prevent the "holiday" from taking place.

According to MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino, the City of Manila has agreed to lengthen the operating window of trucks in the city from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., apart from the original 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. window.

The truckers however, said this will not be enough and urged Manila officials to bring back their 15-hour operations a day.

Cutting their operations, they said, will have adverse effects on their businesses and the industries they serve.

The City of Manila, according to Tolentino, is also proposing opening Roxas Boulevard for trucks, but said this would have to be studied first this is expected to create traffic in the area.